And sometimes, the best medicine is just to stay home and take care, say doctors who are urging those hit with the flu to consider options other than showing up at already-clogged emergency rooms.

Hospitals in both Edmonton and Calgary are experiencing capacity pressures, in part due to seasonal influenza-like and gastro-intestinal-type illnesses circulating in the community.

Albertans can assist by ensuring they have received their flu shots and know their care options.

Emergency departments are just one of several options for treatment. Alberta Health Services is taking steps to ease this temporary pressure on capacity, including:

• Providing additional home care resources to facilitate discharge

• Prioritizing placement to contnuing care sites for hospitals that are most affected

• Repatriating medically stable out-of-province patients to their home provinces

• Opening temporary bed capacity where possible

Two more elective surgeries out of 246 scheduled for Wednesday were delayed in Calgary, after nine were postponed Tuesday as hospitals in the area struggled to cope with a wave of the seasonal viruses that are running 10% to 20% more widespread than normal years, said Dr. Francois Belanger, the AHS’s medical director of the Calgary zone.

“This obviously limits our ability to manage inpatient capacity...it is stressful but I cannot be more proud of our staff,” said Belanger.

Health care workers have diagnosed at least 300 cases of influenza in the Calgary area, which is “the tip of the iceberg” of the total cases, while the instances of norovirus are even more numerous, he said.

“I would say thousands more, really,” Belanger said of norovirus.

Currently, occupancy at Edmonton and Calgary’s major hospitals is above 100%. Occupancy is well over 100% on medicine units, which account for most patients.

In the AHS’s Calgary zone, there have been 20 notable outbreaks, including a number in continuing care centres and other wards.

Patients are being treated in hallways and other alternative spaces while some, when medically possible, are being transferred outside the region.

In both Edmonton and Calgary, AHS currently has numerous illness outbreaks in continuing care facilities and on a few wards. This greatly limits flexibility in managing hospital inpatient capacity.

Wildrose Party health critic Heather Forsyth noted the outbreak is an expected seasonal event and questioned why the health care system is so strained.

“In the year 2013 we shouldn’t be facing this,” she said.

“We had SARS and H1N1 and the only time surgeries were cancelled was during the SARS — you’d think they’d be planning in case something like this happened.”

She also noted in Calgary’s case, the $1.4-billion, 300-bed South Health Campus, which was partly opened to much fanfare last September, still isn’t able to lower the medical pressure in the city.

AHS officials said the opening of the hospital’s emergency department is on schedule for sometime early this year, though the facility isn’t slated to be fully operational until the end of 2013.

“You have to have staff, staff have to be trained — we’re looking at every possibility to maximize capacity,” said Belanger.

Much also depends on Albertans preventing the spread of viruses, he said, by getting flu vaccinations, washing their hands and spending time to recover with rest and plenty of liquids.

Some health and medical needs — including the management of many seasonal illnesses — can be best met in a place other than a hospital emergency department.

In addition to family doctors, walk-in clinics, urgent care centres, Primary Care Networks and Family Care Clinics, most cases of influenza-like illnesses can be managed at home, through self care.

Staying home when sick, getting plenty of rest, and maintaining fluid intake to prevent dehydration, are not only sufficient self-care measures for many cases, they are measures that reduce the risk of spreading illness to others, and reduce the pressure on the health care system.

Moving non-emergent visits into the community frees considerable resources in emergency departments for Albertans who most urgently require those services.

“Emergency departments will never turn away those who need treatment,” said Dr. William Dickout, medical director, Edmonton zone.

“We are looking to Albertans to educate themselves on the options available for their care to ensure they get the care they need quickly, and also to help reduce the pressures on our EDs during this season.”

If you are unsure of your treatment options, call Health Link Alberta for advice on seeking appropriate medical care or visit http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/options.

If you, or anyone in your household, are experiencing illness, AHS asks that you refrain from visiting family and friends in hospitals, care facilities or seniors’ lodges. By simply staying home and taking care of yourself, you help ease the pressure on emergency departments.

The influenza vaccine is still available, free of charge, to all Albertans six months of age and older. For clinic locations and details, call Health Link Alberta, or visit www.albertahealthservices.ca/immunization.